Legal Consultation

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Agencies must deal with inmate filed litigation on a regular basis. Litigation defense is time consuming, costly, stressful and requires a high level of skilled expertise, any of which can be frustrating for administrators with limited resources. Recognizing the need for legal technical assistance in the corrections field, NIJO offers a variety of services to assist agencies and their legal counsel to successfully mitigate and defend their agencies in prisoner filed lawsuits. These include:

Corrections Litigation Consultation

Expert Witnesses

Depositions

Legal Representation

Testifying Skill Courses Training

Technical Assistance

Compliance Monitoring

NIJO works exclusively with some of the most renown correctional litigation experts in the United States. The list includes prominent individuals known for their success in the courtroom representing correctional administrations.

Blake Hamilton, esq.

Mr. Hamilton has significant trial experience in both Federal and State Courts. He has also worked on briefs and/or argued before the Utah Court of Appeals, Utah Supreme Court, the 9th & 10thCircuit Courts of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Hamilton’s primary practice areas are civil rights litigation and governmental entity defense. He currently serves as general counsel for the Utah Peace Officers Association and the National Institute of Jail Operations, as well as conflict counsel for the Utah Fraternal Order of Police. He has represented governmental entities and their employees through the Utah Local Government Trust, Utah Counties Insurance Pool, Utah Risk Management Mutual Association, Utah Highway Patrol Association, and Professional Law Enforcement Association.
Mr. Hamilton is a member of Durham Jones & Pinegar’s Board of Directors and is the chair of the firm’s Governmental Entity Defense group. He also co-chaired the Wills for Heroes committee, which provides wills and other estate planning services for emergency first responders and their families for the past six years and is listed in the 2015 Utah Business Magazine as one of Utah’s “Legal Elite.”
To find out more or to contact Mr. Hamilton about legal representation, technical assistance or litigation consultation, please contact NIJO.

Gary W. DeLand

Gary DeLand is the former Executive Director of the Utah Sheriffs’ Association and President of DeLand and Associates, Inc. He is widely considered the top legal expert witness for corrections representing jails and prisons in the United States. In his 40 years, he has traveled to more than 45 states to provide legal issues and other criminal justice training. DeLand served as Commander of the Jail Division for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Executive Director of the UT State Department of Corrections and Senior Advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Justice. He has also served as an officer for NSA’s Presidents and Executive Directors Committee and as Chair of the ACA Legal Issues Committee. DeLand is the past Editor-in-Chief and former Executive Editor of the Corrections Managers’ Report. He currently serves on the NIJO Executive Advisory Board.
To find out more or to contact Mr. DeLand about legal representation, technical assistance or litigation consultation, please contact NIJO.

Sean Stewart, CJE

Sean Stewart is a Jail Commander with the Pima County Sheriff’s Office, Arizona. He is recognized as one of the top expert witnesses in the US representing correctional facilities, retained 34 times as an expert witness during last from 2011-2015. Stewart has over 23 years of correctional experience. He is the Division Commander of Housing Operations and has overseen multiple management
and tactical operations in his career. Stewart is a NIJO/NSA (CJE) Certified Jail Executive and instructs on legal-based issues and operations nationally. He currently serves on the NIJO Jail Advisory Council.
To find out more or to contact Captain Stewart about legal representation, technical assistance or litigation consultation, please contact NIJO.

ABOUT US

The National Institute for Jail Operations (NIJO) is your primary resource dedicated to serving those that operate jails, detention and correctional facilities. Recognizing the enormous liability and increasing litigation facing administrators, NIJO provides a compilation of legal-based resources and information for agencies to make facilities safer and more secure, proactively defend against frivolous litigation, and protect against adverse publicity and liability.